AU-OLE MISS: Ball protection key for quarterbacks
Bo Nix and the Auburn offense should have scoring opportunities against the porous Ole Miss defense this week. (Todd Van Emst/Auburn Media Relations)
By TIM GAYLE
Two teams desperate to reverse their struggling offensive fortunes will meet in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on Saturday as Ole Miss and Auburn attempt to sort out last week’s problems at quarterback.
Ole Miss fell to Arkansas 33-21 as Matt Corral threw six interceptions.
“He played really poorly,” Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said. “They did a great job reading his eyes and he was trying to do no-look passes where’s he’s holding one guy off. The problem is he can’t see the other guy while he’s doing that. He got away with it the week before, so I think he learned a lot from this. And we didn’t play well around him. Bad recipe.”
Auburn fell to South Carolina as Bo Nix threw three interceptions that led to 21 points.
“I think overall, not just him, but our whole team is disappointed that we didn’t win the game,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. “Now we have to do something about it. We have to keep improving and put that behind us.”
Auburn (2-2) and Ole Miss (1-3) may turn to their rushing attack to correct the mistakes. Auburn is a three-point favorite in an 11 a.m. kickoff televised on the Southeastern Conference Network.
“When you look at them, they’re a better team than their record,” Malzahn said. “They could’ve won a couple of those games and had opportunities. When you look at their offense, they have one of the best offenses, statistically up to this point. What stands out to me is that they’re able to run the football.”
The two teams feature the fifth- and sixth-rated running backs in the conference. Jerrion Ealy had 112 yards on 23 carries last week for Ole Miss, while Tank Bigsby had 111 yards on 16 carries last week for Auburn.
“He looks like an Auburn running back to me,” Malzahn said of Bigsby. “He’s running with great passion and that’s a good thing. It fits, too. He’s been able to run the ball effectively. He’s broken tackles. Our offensive line (last week) really took that next step with running the football. We just need to keep building upon those things.”
If Corral struggles early, look for Kiffin to change gears by playing John Rhys Plumlee, a sophomore noted for his running ability.
“We obviously thought about John (last week),” Kiffin said. “It’s easy to sit here and say now, didn't think (Corral) was going to keep throwing interceptions and we're in a one-score, hoping he'd pull out of it and drive us down and win the game. Obviously now you play John, if you knew after three (interceptions) there would be three more. He got a lot of reps (on Monday), so we will see.”
Malzahn, meanwhile, thinks his rebuilt offensive line will continue to improve and take pressure off of Nix.
“I think you’ll see the whole thing kind of come together as the year moves forward,” he said. “I’ve said it before, I think it’s just the fact that all five worked together that week. It’s so important up front. You can’t simulate that in practice. It’s making adjustments as you go, communicating, understanding, working together on double teams, working together on twists when you pass it off. Just that communication. That’s encouraging as far as moving forward.”